© 2005. Michael C. Dennis. All Rights Reserved
Presented by Michael C. Dennis, M.B.A, C.B.F.
For CMA Business Credit Services
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The opinions presented in this program are
those of the instructor. His opinions and
recommendations do not necessarily reflect
the views of CMA Business Credit Services
or its officers and directors.
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• At some point, credit professionals will be expected to
have good public speaking skills.
• If you are not confident in your public speaking skills,
now is the time to learn.
• Public speaking skills are helpful in large groups, and
when you are making an informal presentation to a
small group or even to one other person.
• While practice will not make you perfect, it will make
public speaking less intimidating.
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Improving Communicating with Your Peers
• Members of the credit department are sometimes
treated differently in the workplace – almost as if we
enjoy confrontation.
• Remind co-workers that risk management is what you
do, not who you are.
• Credit managers should not allow senior management to
segregate the department physically [or in other ways]
from other departments.
• The “sales prevention” stigma that is often attached to
the credit department is a myth that can damage your
interactions within your own
organization.
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Communicating with Your Peers
• Communicate openly with your peers on matters that
affect your department in particular, and the company
as a whole.
• Don’t rely on e-mail. They are both impersonal and a
form of one way communication meaning they are easily
misunderstood and easily ignored.
• A face to face meeting is often more effective, especially
when you are asking a peer for assistance - - as you
might need to do to clear a customer deduction.
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• Return phone calls from sales the same day they are
received.
• Don’t talk down to salespeople, and don’t try to impress
salespeople with your expertise or knowledge of
accounting jargon.
• Take as much time as necessary to explain your decision,
and the decision making process, to the sales
department.
• If one of your subordinates made the wrong decision,
override it and move forward. Don’t cover it up.
• Ask to meet with sales trainees during the
orientation process.
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• Notify your salesperson before notifying ‘their’
customer about credit holds or lower credit limits.
• Explain your decision, but don’t feel compelled to
convince the salesperson that your decision is correct.
• Create a mechanism that allows salespeople to appeal
credit decision. Doing so reduces their frustration and
validates your decisions.
• Always be willing to listen to new information, and be
willing to change your decision if the new information is
compelling.
• Ask sales what action they recommend.
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• Make the telephone your primary collection tool.
• Schedule your outbound calls based on the time zone in
which your customer is located.
• If you have to leave a voice mail message, be sure to
leave your name and number twice. Also, state that
your message is urgent.
• Remember that your customer’s A/P department gets
far more calls than they can answer. Your call must
sound important.
• Strive to become a squeaky wheel
creditor.
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• Don’t interrupt angry customers.
• If customers are quiet, draw them into the discussion
with open ended questions.
• When customers try to rush you through a call, slow the
call down. If the customer’s responses are not making
sense, ask for clarification.
• If a customer uses profanity, ask them politely not to do
so. If they continue to do so, announce that you are
going to hang up and then do so.
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• Did you know that some customers will try to draw you
into an argument. If you ‘take the bait’ they have a
great excuse to delay payment.
• Remember that some customers are deliberately
confrontational. The rationale is simple: If being
belligerent reduces the number of calls they receive they
win. The solution is to refuse to ‘play.’
• Remember that it is extremely difficult to
argue with someone who will not fight
back.
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• If you agree on a payment plan, document it in writing.
• Before placing a customer with a third party collection
agency, give the customer one final chance to pay.
• Communicate final demands to the debtor company
President.
• Remember that if you do not follow through on threats,
you will not be taken seriously.
• Don’t bluff. Doing so can your credibility.
• Bluffing also creates confusion for the
customer.
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• The fax and email have become popular ways to
communicate with customers.
• Make certain these supplement rather than supplant
[replace] telephone calls.
• Remember that any form of one way communication
including letters and faxes are easy to ignore.
• In terms of effectiveness, a telephone call demands
attention while a fax or email does not.
• In fact, some debtors ignore all forms of
communication except telephone calls or
personal visits. 12

• Eliminate grace periods before calling.
• Try not to leave a voice mail messages.
• Treat everyone you call the same way whether you are
speaking to the A/P clerk or the debtor company
President.
• Make sure you get to the point and stick to it. Don’t
ignore the social pleasantries, but don’t become
distracted by them.
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Communicating with Management
• Find out how management wants you to communicate
with them.
• If management prefers you to accumulate problems, do
that. If they prefer memos, start typing. If they prefer
face to face discussions, use that approach.
• If they insist that you make an appointment, create a
standing appointment to meet at a certain time each day
or each week.
• Make sure that management has things their way.
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Communicating with Management
• Discuss the type of written reports senior management
wants. Some managers want highlights, others demand
details.
• Don’t guess about what management wants. Ask if your
manager is happy with the level of detail, the form and
the frequency of your reports.
• If management indicates they might be interested in a
different type of report, experiment until you find
something that meets their needs.
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Communicating with Subordinates
• Encourage active discussions. Welcome feedback.
• Develop an open door policy in which no one is criticized
for asking your advice…but require your team to
develop ideas and recommendations.
• Train your subordinates that it is worse to hide a
problem than it is to admit a mistake was made.
• Make it clear that open communication is welcomed but
the department manager is accountable for whatever
goes right or wrong.
• Therefore, the credit manager must
have the final word.
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Communicating with Subordinates
• Share the information you can, as soon as you can.
• Be sure performance appraisals are timely and honest.
• Never sugar-coat performance problems. Honesty may
actually save the employee from being fired.
• Remember to compliment your team members in public,
and criticize their performance in private.
• On close calls, give members of your team the benefit of
the doubt.
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Communicating with Subordinates
• If you are concerned about a performance problem,
create a performance improvement plan.
• Make sure there are objective [not subjective]
measurements and be sure the employee receives
appropriate level of support.
• Make it clear that employees must make the necessary
adjustments. Remind them that your expectations are
not going to change, so their performance must change.
• Don’t equivocate. If failure could result in
termination, it is only fair to share this
information.
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• Do not provide credit ratings by telephone.
• Provide only factual, historical information in response
to credit inquiries.
• Watch what you say at industry credit group meetings.
Negative but accurate comments sometimes come back
to bite you.
• Remember that emails are a permanent record of your
comments, so think twice before hitting the send button.
• Do not rely exclusively on spell check. It is common to
find letters in which the wrong words are spelled
correctly.
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• Do return calls the same day.
• Don’t assume that dunning notices are going to motivate
customers to pay past due balances.
• Do involves your sales department in your collection
efforts – not as collectors but as people who may be able
to go around the accounting department to a decision
maker.
• Do document your interactions with third parties,
especially when disputes arise. You never know when
you may be required to explain your actions to your
manager.
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